It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 116 How to Protect Men's Rights? (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Burbank.

Warner Bros. Building.

After finishing an interview about "The Prestige," Lu Rui and Lauren Megan saw the host off and then returned to the latter's office together.

Today is February 27th, and the Oscars red carpet will officially begin at 5 pm.

Meanwhile, today is also the second day of The Prestige's release in North America.

When discussing the release of Chinese-language films in North America, one cannot avoid mentioning "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" from 2000.

Lee An is a very clever director. He brought together a group of Chinese actors and made a movie that Americans liked, which grossed $1.28 million at the box office.

This also laid a solid foundation for Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi to develop their careers in the United States.

Unfortunately, The Prestige doesn't have as much of the "American style" as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Its selling points are all in the mind-bending plot and magic gimmicks, and it doesn't even have the grand scenes of Heroes.

The lead actors, Jiang Wen and Hu Jun, are less well-known in Hollywood than David Bowie and his assistant Andy Serkis, who made cameo appearances as Tesla.

This resulted in minimal promotional success for the film in Hollywood.

The biggest highlight, however, is director Lü Rui.

As the only person in the world to have won the Best Director award at all three major European film festivals, "The Prestige" gained some attention on a small scale thanks to his name.

"As of now, the film has grossed $678 million in its first two days of release, with daily box office takings exceeding $300 million each day."

In the office, Lauren Megan showed no dissatisfaction when reporting on the results.

After all, the film's investment costs have already been recouped, with a total investment of only $853 million, which is negligible for Warner Bros.

Based on current North American box office figures and audience feedback, surpassing $2000 million is by no means difficult.

With a little effort, it could even reach $3000 million.

Distributing the film to other countries at that time would undoubtedly be a successful example of achieving big results with small investments!

More importantly, with this film, Warner Bros. successfully tapped into part of the mainland Chinese market.

For example, Lu Rui's new project "Taken" was assessed by the company as having a much higher commercial value than "The Prestige".

Warner executives have reached a consensus that they must solidify their partnership with Lu Rui.

Because they saw huge potential profits in it!

If the partnership continues, the market of 13 billion people will surely bring Warner a rich return!

In fact, the performance of a movie in the North American market can usually be predicted after only one day, without having to wait too long.

If you collect sufficient data such as opening day box office, audience demographics, and word-of-mouth, it will be clear whether a film makes a profit or a loss.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as Titanic.

Anyone who saw the opening day box office performance and audience reviews of The Big Ship could not have imagined that the film would achieve such great success in the global market.
Overall, the North American film market is quite mature, with well-established operating methods for everything from target age demographics and release schedules for different film genres to word-of-mouth screenings and viral marketing strategies.

The Prestige also has its own unique promotional and marketing points:
Mind-bending, suspenseful, puzzle-solving...

A significant portion of the population in North America enjoys these kinds of movies, much like how horror films have a dedicated audience.

While listening to Lauren talk, Lü Rui used his personal computer to browse North American audience reviews of "The Prestige".

To date, the top three Chinese-language films in the North American theatrical market are "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Hero," and "Rumble in the Bronx."

The three films grossed $1.28 million, $5370 million, and $3230 million at the North American box office, respectively.

On the lMDb website, they are rated 7.9, 7.8, and 6.7 respectively.

Founded in 1990, IMDB is an online database that covers information about movies, TV shows, actors, and productions.

Even ordinary movie fans can rate and comment on a film as long as they register.

This website, which has a 15-year history, has accumulated a large number of users and is quite famous among many movie websites.

Currently, The Prestige has an average rating of 7.2 on IMDb, which is quite a good result.

Lü Rui specifically reviewed the North American audience reviews of the film:
"The slow, tense build-up, coupled with the shocking twists, makes The Prestige a masterpiece!"

"I think it's worth pointing out that this movie is not so much complicated as it is very clever. It grabs you with its plot in the first few minutes and then explains things from different angles. The screenwriter and director are amazing!"

"This is one of the first films I've seen that does this, and it's funny from beginning to end, including the ending."

"Like Memento, The Prestige employs a completely non-linear narrative, which may make some people uncomfortable, but Lv uses this technique to create a brilliant, emotional, and tragic story."

When the audience has no preconceived notions about the protagonist and is completely unfamiliar with him, they will focus their attention on the movie's plot.

That's exactly what "The Prestige" is like.

The key reason it won over suspense film enthusiasts in the Hollywood theatrical market was its unique storyline.

Lu Rui closed his laptop, glanced at the time, stood up and said, "Lauren, we should get going."

“Right.” Lauren also stood up, realizing, “I almost forgot, we still need to go to the hotel to meet up first.”

If you're driving, it only takes half an hour to get from Warner Bros. Building to Kodak Theatre.

But you can't just show up and walk on the Oscars red carpet whenever you want; the organizers have already scheduled your time, and you have to follow the rules.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Lü Rui met Andy Serkis, who was already waiting there.

Today, he will walk the red carpet with Lu Rui and Lauren as a member of the cast and crew of "The Prestige".

David Bowie was originally invited, but he had a tour performance today and unfortunately couldn't attend. Besides *The Prestige*, Warner Bros. is also heavily promoting two award contenders at this year's Oscars: *Million Dollar Baby* and *The Aviator*.

So, as soon as Lauren arrived at the hotel, she went to find her colleagues.

Lu Rui and Andy Serkis found a secluded corner and started chatting.

The two ordered a coffee.

As soon as he sat down, Andy sincerely expressed his gratitude to Lv Rui: "Lv, thank you for giving me a new job opportunity."

Compared to unfamiliar actors, Lü Rui prefers to work with actors she has collaborated with before.

So Andy Serkis was invited to play the role of "Dark Lord" in "I Am Legend".

Although this role doesn't require the actor to show their face, it demands a high level of skill in motion capture and facial expression acting, and no one is more suitable than Andy.

In addition, he also got the opportunity to play the role of "Jiang Wen's foreign friend" in "Taken".

Lü Rui also didn't forget Amy Adams.

After filming "Lurking" last year, she partnered with Sony Classics to star in "June Bug".

Lu Rui clearly remembers that it was this movie that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress the following year, which brought her to the forefront and propelled her to become "Superman's girlfriend".

But for now, she's still relatively unknown.

So when Lü Rui invited her to play the virus-immune "Annie" in "I Am Legend", she agreed without hesitation.

These two actors don't earn high salaries now, but they are destined to become globally renowned Hollywood actors.

Lü Rui had essentially discovered them ahead of time, focusing on achieving the greatest results with the least amount of money and making the most of resources.

After taking a sip of coffee, Lü Rui asked curiously, "Andy, I heard you've collaborated with Peter Jackson on another big-budget film?"

“Yes.” Andy Serkis nodded. “After the Lord of the Rings trilogy was completed, he partnered with Universal Pictures to remake the 1933 classic action film King Kong.”

He felt quite uncomfortable saying this.

Although he performed computer motion capture for the character "King Kong" in the film, making him a de facto "leading man," his billing was far lower than that of the other main actors.

Hollywood has always been reluctant to acknowledge the contributions of motion capture actors, which makes him feel both frustrated and helpless.

Lu Rui noticed that he was not in a good mood, but couldn't figure out why, so he didn't talk much about "King Kong".

His mind is now filled with images of King Kong shooting down planes atop the Empire State Building!

I have to say, Peter Jackson was a real genius; that scene was absolutely stunning!

Time quickly passed to 5 p.m.

At 5:40, Lü Rui, Andy, and Lauren walked the red carpet together.

Reporters from the three major portal websites and Princess Six had already lined both sides of the red carpet. After all, this was a large-scale awards ceremony that attracted global attention, and they certainly wouldn't let it slip by.

They were extremely excited to see Lü Rui appear.

Although he only received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, and that nomination was made through Warner Bros.' recommendation, it was the first time a Chinese-language film had been nominated for this award, which is of great significance.

"Director Lü! I wish you success in winning the grand prize."

"Go, Director Lü!"

"To win glory for the country..."

Although Lü Rui didn't quite understand how winning an Oscar was related to "bringing glory to the country," he still smiled and posed for a few photos.

The three walked down the red carpet.

Although this is overseas, there are still quite a few Chinese fans on both sides.

Hearing many people calling his name, Lü Rui smiled and responded, while whispering to Lauren beside him:

"Is there any way to promote the movie here?"

Lauren listened to his question and chuckled as she gave him a terrible idea: "You could trip and fall on the red carpet; that would definitely attract attention."

Lü Rui pursed his lips.

He's not Jennifer Lawrence or Sophie Marceau, who every year comes up with a different trick on the red carpet—showing skin, tripping, or being taken advantage of by a male host…

Compared to female stars, male stars are undoubtedly at a much weaker position on the red carpet.

Unless you fall down on the spot and then hug your leg and say you're lame, you'll only be laughed at.

Thinking of this, Lü Rui couldn't help but mutter to himself:
fair!

fair!

We still have to pursue fairness!
Who will protect men's rights when they are violated?
Just then, I heard a loud scream from behind me!
Lu Rui subconsciously turned around and saw the newly crowned Disney princess, Lindsay Lohan, stepping out of a Mercedes-Benz.

Through the high-slit dress, the T-shaped panties are clearly visible, seemingly embedded deep within the East African Rift Valley.

Although this scene lasted only a few seconds, it attracted the attention of the entire audience.

As expected, this Disney princess will be making headlines again tomorrow.

Lu Rui silently turned around and walked forward on his own.

These female celebrities are desperately seeking attention and popularity, while those pitiful "fairies" think that this is how women should be...

(End of this chapter)